Lazy Cabbage Rolls recipe

This is a great inexpensive recipe to make for dinner that is delicious. I make this in 2 square foil pans. After I finish cooking them, we have one for dinner and the other I cook and put in the freezer for another meal.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls.

1 pound ground beef
1 cup parboiled (converted) rice (uncooked)
2 large can tomato sauce.
1 small head of cabbage
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 bouillon cube chicken

Add water, rice and bouillon cube in a pot of water, Boil for 5 minutes, cover pot, turn off heat and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes until water has been absorbed. Rice will be undercooked at this point.

Meanwhile, brown meat over medium heat until no longer pink; add mushrooms, garlic and onions and cook an additional 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Add half a can of Tomato sauce, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper; mix to combine, set aside.

Cut Cabbage into very thin strips, like you are making Cole slaw (I use a food processor) . Add the remaining tomato sauce from the first can to the cabbage. Set aside.
When Rice is done, add to the meat mixture and combine.

Ok now to assemble
layer half the cabbage on the bottom of 2, 8 inch square foil pans.
layer the meat and rice mixture into both pans.
Top with the remaining cabbage on top.
Take the remaining can of Tomato Sauce and evenly divide over both pans, pouring on top.

Cover tightly with Foil, place on a cookie sheet and cook at 350degrees for 1.5 hours. Check after 1 hour to see whether the cabbage is cooked, but I found it took an hour and a half.

Strawberry Sauce with French Toast

As we all know when Strawberries are in season, there is nothing better!

I love to have Strawberries with my french toast, so here is my favorite recipe.

Strawberry Sauce

• 1 pint Fresh local strawberries
• 1/4 cup of Sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup water

Hull and Clean strawberries. If they are large, cut in half. Leave the small ones whole. Combine, strawberries, sugar and 3/4 cup water in a pot over medium heat stirring often. Simmer for 10 minutes. Combine corn starch and 1/4 water, add to strawberries. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until Sauce is thickened. Keep warm while you make the french toast.


French Toast

• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 10 to 12 slices white bread
• butter

Crack eggs into a shallow bowl or pie plate, beat lightly with a fork. Stir in sugar, salt, and milk.

Over medium-low heat, heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter.

Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Only coat the amount of bread you are cooking at that time, as they will get soggy.

Transfer bread slices to griddle or skillet, cook until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast with hot Strawberry sauce

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch-wide strips

1 taco seasoning mix packet

2 Tbsp. flour

1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
1 onion sliced

1 cup frozen corn

1-1/2 cups chunky salsa

1 cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded
10 Flour tortillas

Toss Chicken with seasoning and flour in slow cooker.Add in all remaining ingredients except the shredded cheese. Cover Slow Cooker with lid and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours (or on High for 3 to 4 hours). Stir just before serving. Warm up the tortilla's in the microwave, on a plate covered with Plastic wrap for 1 minute. Serve Chicken Mixture on Tortillas with Cheese. You can add Sour cream, Guacamole or Salsa to your tortilla's

*** Don't want to serve this Chicken dish on a tortilla? Just serve it over Rice ***

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour pork with rice

1-1/2 lb.boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 onion, chopped

1 bottle (295 mL) Sweet'n Sour Sauce
1 large Carrot shredded or diced

1 cup chicken broth or 1 cup of water and 1/2 a bouillon cube

1 can (398 mL) pineapple chunks, drained or 1 cup Fresh Pineapple

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

place meat in slow cooker; top with onions and carrots. Add the sweet-and-sour sauce and broth to the Slow Cooker. Cover with lid. Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours (or on High for 5 hours).
Stir in pineapple, peppers and rice. Return Cover to the slow cooker, and cook an additional 20 min.

Baked Penne Pasta

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

3 cups penne pasta, cooked, drained

1 jar (700 mL) pasta sauce
1 Large Carrot Grated.
1 Bell Pepper cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Cloves of Garlic

2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese Grated

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese Shredded

Preheat oven to 375°F. Brown meat in large skillet. Add the shredded Carrot and Bell Pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until pepper are tender. Add pasta, sauce and Parmesan cheese to the Ground Beef mixture.

Spoon Pasta Mixture into 13x9-inch baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through.

*** You can change the protein in this pasta bake to whatever you have on hand. I have made this with Sausage, Ground Chicken, Meatballs, whatever you have on hand. This is also great to use up any leftover meat you have.***

Easy Broccoli and Cheese Soup

1 Small Onion chopped
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
2 cups of Chicken broth, or 1 bouillon cube and 2 cups of water
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
1 head of Broccoli or 2 cups frozen Broccoli Chopped
1/8 tsp. pepper


Cook the onions in butter in saucepan or soup pot on medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in flour and stir until flour coats onions.

Add Broth and Broccoli to the onions and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until Broccoli is tender.

Add milk,pepper, Cheddar cheese and cream cheese to the soup and Cook until Cheese is melted, stirring frequently.



*** This is a great recipe that you can interchange the vegetable. If you have cauliflower, use that instead. I have even made this soup with Frozen Mixed Vegetables, Frozen corn. You name it ****

Easy Mexican Salad

6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup Salsa
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
1 cup broken tortilla chips


Place lettuce on serving platter or in bottom of glass serving bowl.Layer the beans, corn, salsa and cheese on top of the lettuce. Drizzle with dressing; sprinkle with chips.

*** You can replace the Beans with Cooked ground Beef if you prefer. Just cook ground beef and add Taco Seasoning ****

Mock Lasagna Bake

• 1 package Extra Lean Ground Beef (about 1 pound)
  
• 2 cans Tomato Soup (10 oz / 284 ml Each)
• 2 tsp Mrs.Dash Italian Seasoning
• 2/3 cup Water
• 3/4 lb. Broad Egg Noodles (340 gms)
• 2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup (10 oz / 284 ml each)
• 1 x Soup Can Filled with 1% Milk
• 1 cup Shredded Light Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, Part-Skim

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil at high for pasta.
2. Brown ground beef in a large nonstick fry pan.
3. When meat is no longer pink, stir in tomato soup, spice and water.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add noodles to boiling water. Set timer for 3 minutes. When timer rings, rinse under hot running water to remove starch. Set aside.
5. Whisk together mushroom soup and milk in a medium size mixing bowl.
6. Layer, in a 9x13 pan, in this order; 1/2 of the mushroom soup mixture, 1/3 cooked noodles (you may need to run water through the noodles again to separate them before layering), 1/2 the meat sauce, cheddar cheese, 1/3 cooked noodles, remaining mushroom soup mixture, remaining noodles, remaining meat sauce, mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake in hot oven, uncovered. Set timer for 30 minutes.

How to Stretch your dollar with a Turkey Dinner

We all know that making a large turkey for dinner can seem daunting, but it does not have to be.

You are usually able to find Turkeys on sale for .99 cents a pound around the holidays. Take advantage of those sales buy purchasing an extra turkey for your freezer. On a day when you have some extra time, throw the Turkey in the oven to Roast. You can make a traditional Turkey Dinner that night and then freeze the leftover Turkey for future meals. Here is what I always do, and I will share some of the recipes that I use.

I bought a 9 pound turkey for under $9. The day that I roast the Turkey I will make Mashed Potatoes, maybe some Stuffing and a vegetable.

After that Dinner I divide the Turkey into Freezer Bags in serving Size portions (1lb). I make 2 recipes for Dinner with the leftovers that are easy to make.

Turkey Tetrazzini (This is what I call this)

1 lb of left over Turkey from the freezer, defrosted .99
1/2 a brick of Low Fat Cream cheese .99 on sale
1 cup Frozen Peas .25
1 package of Mushrooms 1.49
1 package of Egg noodles 1.49
1 to 2 cups of Milk .50
1 tbsp Mr Dash Seasoning. .20
1 onion .10
1 tbsp butter .10

Cook the Egg Noodles according to the package directions.
Meanwhile, Chop the onion and saute with the butter for 1 to 2 minutes in a Large Saute Pan. Slice the mushrooms and add to the pan. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the Defrosted Frozen Peas the Mr Dash, the Cream cheese, turkey and 1 cup of milk. Cook until the Cream cheese is melted, and the rest of the ingredients are warm. Add more milk if needed. Add the cooked Egg Noodles and Stir to combine. Ensure everything is Hot, then enjoy !

Cost for this Dinner : $6.11


Turkey Noodle Casserole

1 Package of Egg Noodles 1.49
1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup .49
1 pound of Turkey from the freezer defrosted .99
1 cup Frozen Mixed veggies, defrosted .25
1 cup of Mayonnaise .50
1 cup of milk .25
1 tbsp Poultry Seasoning .05

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil the Egg Noodles for 2 minutes. They will be undercooked. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large oven safe casserole. Add the Egg noodles and stir until well combined. Cover the casserole and Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until Hot and bubbly.

Cost of this Dinner: $4.02

and I still will have turkey leftover!

2 Chicken Meals, only cook once!

You can usually get a great deal on Whole Chickens at the grocery store. Buying a whole Chicken can be very versatile and easy to make.

I have decided to make 2 recipes here based on using one roasted chicken as a base.
The first recipe is Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. The next is to use leftovers to make a Chicken Pasta salad.

Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

1 Whole Chicken about 4 to 5 pounds (4.95)
2 pounds Potatoes (.40)
1 Bag of Europe's Best Green Beans (.99)
1 cup Milk (.25)
2 tbsp Butter (.19)
Salt
Pepper
Poultry Seasoning

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Pat chicken Dry, Sprinkle the chicken with Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Poultry Seasoning. Place in a roasting Pan and Roast for 1 hour to 1 1/2hours until juices run clear. Let Rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, peel potatoes, place in pot with cold water with 1 tbsp salt and bring to a boil (if you place a cover on the pot it will come to a boil faster). Cook until potatoes are tender. Mash with Butter and Milk. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Place Green Beans in a vegetable steamer for the microwave. Sprinkle with Salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes or until tender. Add Butter if you must.

When Carving the chicken, carve it like a turkey, by slicing the meat off the chicken. I have found that individuals will eat more based on what they have on their plate. If you slice the meat instead of serving someone an entire chicken breast, they will usually eat less!

Now for Meal #2

Pasta Salad with Chicken

Left over chicken from Roast chicken dinner, shredded.
1 can Mandarin Oranges (.49)
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds (.50)
1 Cup Mayonnaise (.50)
4 cups of Cooked Penne Pasta (.50)
1 Stalk of Celery (.08)
1 onion (.10)

Place Cooked Pasta in a large Bowl. Chop Onion and Celery and add to the bowl Add Chicken to the bowl.

In a small bowl add Mayonnaise and the syrup from the can of Mandarin Oranges. Add 1 tsp Salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Whisk together. Add to the Pasta and Chicken and Stir until combined. gently fold in the mandarin oranges. Sprinkle with the almond.

Enjoy!

For both meals your cost would be 8.95. Not Bad for 2 dinners!